graphics on wood enclosure ?

[Pablo]

anyone know of a way to "etch" wood, like what some have done on
aluminum boxes ?  i know i could alway have it laser engraved but was
curious if there are any chemicals that work that way on wood.

[QSQCaito]

Fire works fine :p

Uhm.......chemical that reacts on wood.. thats a good one.. i should search a bit.

[Pushtone]

Neat idea,


How about bending a heavy gauge solid bare wire into a pattern and then appling 120V to heat it up and burn in the pattern.
Hook up a handle and you've got an electric heat stamp like the fellows at the fair use to write your name on a wood sign.

I picture a wood block that has been routed out with a complicated pattern, letters, whatever.
The route being a 2cm wide and 2cm deep.

Then the heavy gauge wire is pushed into and bent around the routed groove to make the pattern.
Solder in a few braces so it maintains its shape, pop it out and electrify.

For very small letters, you could buy yer self a metal lettering stamp kit from Harbour Freight, heat them up with a Bic lighter and apply to the wood to burn it in.


Hey Basicaudio, your the wood enclosure expert. Would this work?

[John Lyons]

How did you guess I'd bite on this one?  Ha!

Some Ideas I've been meaning to try:
Those metal stamp kits from Harbour Freight...you guessed it! I would think that you could make a little jig/holder for the stamps and set it up like old type set printing keys. Add your letters to the holder and heat them up with a propane torch and stamp in your words into the wood. Just like branding cattle! You could also make up a design and etch it into an aluminum block making your own curstom stamp and burn that into the wood.
It may even work well to just stamp the letters into the wood with a hammer and add paint/stain varnish that will fill the depression
enough to color the letters...

Chemically would not work for any amount of detail. Since the chemical would be water like and would absorb and blotch out as it soaked into the wood fibers. You could possibly use oven cleaner as this burns/stains wood well but this would depend on the details and type of wood you use. I've chemically altered wood many a time but this was for an all over stain/aging effect.
The viscosity of the liquid and the grain and type of the wood would determin the "blotch factor" Experimenting is a must!

Some checmicals of interest are:
Lye (Red Devil drain opener or the old draino that actually contains some lye, some new stuff does not...) Oak wood ashes work well when run through with a bit of water into a sieve.

Oven cleaner. usually burns wood eventually but if you do it fast and neutralize it with vinegar after a minute or so you can get nice reds and yellows on oak, cherry, ash,  etc. 

Iron buff (washed steel wool in white vinegar and let sit for a week +. Makes a nice aged silver to black effect on oak,cherry and woods with high tannin content. Experiment with strength diluted with water. A little will go a long way straight. Totally non toxic...

Push tone. I haven't seen the wood birning technique you describe.  How would the voltage be applied? DC voltage I guess? Can you go into detail please?

Thanks

John

[Seljer]

not etching but:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Pyrography&btnG=Google+Search

[bancika]

I did few attempts with laser and it turns out great. One time we did logo on guitar headstock my father made for a customer, second time I engraved custom graphic on my pedal (Ross comp). It's not expensive to do it here, I just make design in corel and they engrave it. It's very precise and they can adjust how deep laser goes.
Here's one photo of it


On that headstock logo we used lacquer mixed with ebony dust to fill engraving with, result is very cool. It's totally flat when sanded

[Pushtone]

Push tone. I haven't seen the wood birning technique you describe.  How would the voltage be applied? DC voltage I guess? Can you go into detail please?

Thanks
John

I was thinking like how an electric stove element works.  Thats 120V straight through a coil of wire. Gets red hot.
It would need a way to control current.

But I totaly like your "etch and aluminum box and cattle brand wih that" technique better. Nice refinment.
Padlo, Get yer-self some pine board and start experimanting with that one!

You could also use your soldering iron to burn the wood, like a paintbrush, and creat a hand drawn pattern.

[ambulancevoice]

Some checmicals of interest are:
Lye (Red Devil drain opener or the old draino that actually contains some lye, some new stuff does not...) Oak wood ashes work well when run through with a bit of water into a sieve.

Lye rules man, one shot of warining, Lye gives severe chemical burns to your skin and whatnot, if any should come in contact with you, neutralize it with vinager immiedietly!
and a useless fact, Lye is used to make soap in the process of saponification...

...yeah....

[darron]

yeah. laser engraving is great and not all that expensive. make sure your design is in vectors and not a bitmap so that they don't have to 'trace' it.

if you want a rustic looking effect then you can use a soldering iron with a flat tip (could try pointy?) and it should do a good job of burning into the wood like a pen.

[petemoore]

  Careful with a big, springy, red hot, uninsulated 120v line...
  Chuch ripped the remaining cruddy tolex from his 50w Marshall head cabinet, used a metal plate and a welding torch..then lotsa coats a laquer, hafta tell you that effect [burnt wood look] got lotsa comments.
  Bright birch color / charcoal...was cool lookin' amp then.

[John Lyons]

Heres a few of the burnt wood ones I've done. Propane torched and polished.


Burnt Oak, dissolved 78rpm records made into shellac varnish.


Burnt Ash and roofing tar finish, polyurathane topcoat.


Burnt Ash, Walnut hull stain, Roofing tar.

A bit off topic I guess...

John

[bancika]

the last one has very similar grain like mine

[zjokka]

Burnt Oak, dissolved 78rpm records made into shellac varnish.
Burnt Ash and roofing tar finish, polyurathane topcoat.
Burnt Ash, Walnut hull stain, Roofing tar.
A bit off topic I guess...
John

Saw them before but you can post them again any day. True stunning in every aspect.
Wish I had the time and tools.

[darron]

Burnt Oak, dissolved 78rpm records made into shellac varnish.
Burnt Ash and roofing tar finish, polyurathane topcoat.
Burnt Ash, Walnut hull stain, Roofing tar.
A bit off topic I guess...
John

Saw them before but you can post them again any day. True stunning in every aspect.
Wish I had the time and tools.

same. plus skills and patience!

[Processaurus]

John, those are my favorite yet!  Tons of character. 

[John Lyons]

Thanks for the compliment.

Warning Shameless plug below!

I sell these if anyone is interested...

[petemoore]

How about bending a heavy gauge solid bare wire into a pattern and then appling 120V to heat it up and burn in the pattern.
  Somehow make recesses in the wood, wood burner, lazer...youch!, then fill that with thick paint that'll dry and be sandable. Sand until the wood next to the 'valleys' are clean..I hope..you should be able to form clean edge lines form where the paint in the recesses didn't get sanded off.